The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1887-07-21
AMERICAN MOUNTAIN SCENERY.
The Grand Canyon of tho Arkansas
and the Plains.

ana the IIaInSs
The Grand Canyon of the Arkansas
excels in majesty any scene which 1T
had yet been our pleasure to look upon.
How many ages or centuries or thous-
ands of years the remorseless river was
engaged In cutting its way through
these everlasting mountains is mat
ter of conjecture. The channel Of the
river (at this point not large one) pur-
sues tortuous way for many miles be-
tween the lofty rocks. which its cease
less cravings have severed. The solid
walls. rising sometimes almost perpen-
dicularly to the height of eleven hum
dred feet. the winding course of the
canyon apparently closing us in door
less prison, the skylight seeking to PEN
citrate the depths of the abyss, and q
splashng rain, all added to the beauty.
the grandeur. the terror. the excite
ment and the pleasure OF the occasion.
Our good engine, with remarkable ease
and speed, climbing up the grade Oh
the ckground of tho enormous rocks,
looked like speck. dot. a childs
Is called, is the culm nation of the cam
yon. Here is scarcely room for the
river alone, but mans ingenuity has
overcome natures distractions, and a
well-used thoroughfare is the result.
Emerging from the canyon the road
follows the Arkansas river to Salida.
On our left are the snow-covered peaks
of Sangre de Cristo. Spanish name
meaning the "Blood of Christ" Here
we leave the river and begin to climb
and scale the heights of Marshall pass
over the great continental divide.
We wind along mountain sides, rising
higher and higher. Our train is divid-
ed into two sections. Looking upwart.
we see now line of earth which marks
the course of the road; now the first
section of our train appears, leading us
half mile. Looking downward we see
the course we have come; now one, now
two, now three sections of the road
appear at once, tier above tier. Look
ing outward we see the great slopes of
majestic mountains and the recesses of
the valleys. The Rockies seem to open
the doors of their secret chambers and
to reveal to us their hidden beauties. At
length. on the very summit, in long
snow shed, through many OF which we
have passed, our painting, putting en-
gine like tired and oyerhurdened ami
nal, stops in it's course, as if to gather
strength for the struggle before it in
carrying its load down on the other
side. We are 10,S feet (more than
two miles) above the level of the sea.
The descent, with the loops of the
road bending back and forth, and with
somewhat milder scenery, is the reverse
of the ascent. The train rolls on, and
now darkness comes upon us. Our road
lay through a gorge described as
'grander, deeper. darker, and yet more
beautiful than that we had so recently
passed through" 1t is called the Blac k
cayon. Sitting or standing upon the
| back platform of our car we were quite
able to see majestic outlines Of this
great gorge. Waterfalls. the swiftly
| flowing river, the lofty and precipitous
| rocks reaching out their arms as If to
crush us in their embrace, the Curre-
can't Neede-an abrupt and isolated
pinacle, symmetrical and graceful--are
all discernible in the darkness, which
| lends to each q certain charm OF its
own. The morning light finds us on
| the great plains.
An awful, a terrible desert. Its des-
olation is simply indescribable. 1t ex-
tends for more than 100 miles between
| the Grand and the Green rivers, and
while dreary and somewhat monoto-
nous, is by no means uninteresting.
On the right and left are arid wastes
of land, bearing here and there the
scantiest possible growth of worthless
weeds. The hills in color and in their
wrinkled surface remind one of the
hides of some gigantic elephant The
buttes, with thin level tops. preciptous
faces and barren appearance, rise con.
tinually ON either side. In the Green
river valley irrigation has begun tc
change the barrenness into fruitfulness.
Onward we speed up the ascent of the
Wasatch range, through Castle Gate,
whosel warders are the great rocks
which stand at its entrance, up the
Prince river canyon, down which sgd
ney Johnston marched his army home
from Utah after he had established the
authority of our government over the
Mormon rebels.